The known devices for loading and feeding cops to textile winding apparatus comprise, essentially, a support structure, a first fixed guide for loading cops towards a respective area for pick-up of the cops by suitable arms of the winding machine, and a second fixed guide for unloading the cops which extends from a second area for transfer of the cops loaded with yarn by the arms of the winding machine.
In these known devices the cops, empty and full respectively, are fed and moved away by exploiting the force of gravity, tilting said loading and unloading guides from the work area of the reels upwards, in order to allow sliding towards the pick-up area of the empty cops, and downwards respectively, to allow sliding away from the winding machine of the cops loaded with yarn, with said cop loading guide which is provided in a position above said cop unloading guide and on the side of the machine opposite the latter.
Such a type of device for loading and unloading cops and textile winding apparatus is disadvantageous from various viewpoints.
First of all attention should be drawn to the problem of bulk posed by traditional loading and unloading devices; the fact that chutes or guides for sliding of the cops to be loaded or unloaded are provided and which extend on opposite sides starting from different work areas of the textile machine involves excessive use of space which always represents a problem for all those machines which have to be placed inside industrial buildings which have already been set up.
Moreover, the fact that said cop loading guide or chute is provided on the front side of the machine is disadvantageous, in that it takes up space intended instead for other work devices of the winding machine which must necessarily be provided in the front position of the machine between the yarn guide parts and the reel for collecting yarn.
A feed and guide chute provided in front of the winding machine also interferes with the manoeuvres of the operators in charge of the machine who must deal with the initial operations of inserting the yarn and maintenance of the other devices of the winding machine.
Additionally, said front chutes must necessarily be of limited length since otherwise they would impede the operators' work excessively and could interfere with other functions of the winding machine, for example the function of guiding the yarn towards the winding sections. The fact that long loading and unloading chutes are provided one at the rear and the other at the front of the machine makes said textile machine excessively wide and bulky. The chutes for loading-unloading the cops may only store a limited number of yarn collection cops. Thus the constant presence of the operator is required for loading and removing cops from said loading and unloading chutes.
The object of the present invention is that of providing a device for loading and unloading cops, in textile apparatus for winding yarn, which has small overall dimensions, smaller than those of similar devices already known.
Another object of the present invention is that of providing a device for loading and unloading cops in a textile apparatus, more particularly in a yarn winding apparatus, which does not interfere with the movements or at any rate facilitates the functions performed by additional devices of the textile machine, as well as allowing improved accessibility for the staff in charge of the various components of the winding machine.
Another object of the present invention is that of providing a device for loading and unloading cops which does not require the constant presence of the staff in charge.
A further object of the present invention is that of providing a device for loading and unloading cops which suitably feeds one cop at a time for each winding cycle of a textile machine and accurately positions the same in the pick-up area for an easy grip by the arms of the textile machine.